Taking a drive in the country later? Plan on raking all those leaves? Going shopping with the kids? Paying bills? All of the above? Perhaps we left something out. But what better time to unwind than a weekend afternoon? Catch up on some events, though, before you get busy. And whatever you do later, we hope you enjoy the day…

Lipitor may be getting squeezed by generic Zocor, Pfizer is not letting its flagship drug go down without a fight, The New York Times reports. The drugmaker has mounted a campaign that includes advertisements, lobbying efforts and a paid speaking tour by a former secretary of the federal Department of Health and Human Services. Pfizer is also promoting a study - which is questioned by many experts - that concluded UK patients who switched to simvastatin had more heart attacks and deaths than those who remained on Lipitor. The battle has become a test of the pharma’s ability to defend name brands, even as insurers, patients and doctors seek to whittle the nation’s $270 billion annual prescription drug bill by using generic alternatives whenever possible. UPDATE: If you’d like to watch a TV news clip about the Michigan insurer that pays docs to switch, visit this link.

As concerns have grown about the increase in drug-resistant and potentially deadly bacterial infections, the pharmaceutical pipeline for new antibiotics has been drying up, writes The Star-Ledger of New Jersey (which owns Pharmalot). Faced with high research costs and greater profits to be made from other types of medications, many big drugmakers began abandoning the field of antibiotic development years ago. This has resulted in a significant slowdown in the introduction of new antibiotics now needed to protect the public health. “Right now, the outlook is grim. We have hit rock bottom. There are not enough drugs for our current needs,” says Brad Spellberg, an assistant professor at the UCLA School of Medicine and an infectious-disease specialist. “The consequence is that we will increasingly see drug-resistant infections we can’t treat.”

Fido and Fluffy are fodder for pharma. Pets are big business these days for drugmakers. The pet industry, which spans everything from supplies to veterinary services, is expected to balloon to nearly $43 billion this year. This includes spending on veterinary care, which is projected to reach up to $9.8 billion, and another $9.9 billion on supplies, a category that encompasses over-the-counter meds. Meanwhile, there’s a steady increase in sales of prescriptions to keep the beasts healthy. Mike Dillon, a pet industry consultant, tells The Star-Ledger of New Jersey, that he’s coined a phrase for the dramatic levels of spending by U.S. pet owners - “the humanizing of pets…Americans are increasing their spending in all segments - luxury products, food, health. That’s driving the entire industry.” And as Philly Inc. points out, Merck has just created a spin-off - the Merck/Merial Manual for Pet Health - from its venerable health glossaries, the Merck Manual and the Merck Veterinary Manual.